No. of Recommendations: 2
Abel knows Berkshire cold, but some missed the Buffett magic
He's no Warren Buffett, and thankfully, he's not trying to be Warren Buffett.
But Greg Abel is getting decent, if not spectacular, reviews for leading his first annual shareholders meeting as CEO.
He's not the draw that Buffett and Munger have been over the years, with the CHI Health Center arena in Omaha a bit more than half full, although that turnout is still spectacular compared to the typical corporate annual meeting.
Abel's detailed knowledge about Berkshire's operating businesses won praise, but the unexplained absence of substantial buybacks and a lack of clarity on the future of the equity portfolio and Berkshire's big cash pile are coming up as negatives.
Check Capital Management Steve Check listed the positives for CNBC.com's Yun Li: “Very solid. No misspoke words. Thorough answers. Nice guy, but we sure don’t have the laughs that we had with Warren and Charlie.”
Barron's Berkshire watcher, Andrew Bary, gave Abel a "B-plus" but thinks he "needs improvement on his delivery—too many rambling answers—and on capital allocation messaging."
He also warns Abel's "solid performance" could be overshadowed by Berkshire's "trivial" stock repurchases of just $234 million in the first quarter, despite its March announcement that buybacks had "resumed."
In a video interview with Yahoo Finance, CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifer called Abel's performance "okay."
"Greg obviously has big shoes to fill and he's a very capable business leader," but she thinks Berkshire needs to do a better job "articulating to investors what the plan is to manage the investment portfolios."
She's also disappointed at the low level of buybacks. "If Berkshire isn't buying back their stock, why should you?"
University of Maryland finance professor David Kass told Fortune Abel "demonstrated his knowledge of and passion for" Berkshire's businesses and investments.
"He is more serious in demeanor, but like Warren he is very pleasant. Since there will be less humor at future Berkshire meetings, they will be less entertaining. But Greg will be able to respond well to all shareholder questions and discuss the past performance and outlook for all of Berkshire’s businesses."
Shareholder Tilman Versch called it "definitely the meeting with the deepest insights into Berkshire’s businesses in the last decade."
https://link.cnbc.com/public/45634224 